Quickies

Week of Tosh tributes

Tomorrow marks the beginning of a one-week celebration for one of Jamaica’s musical giants, Peter Tosh. Twenty-five years after his tragic death, this year Jamaica honoured the contributions of the firebrand reggae musician and songwriter with the Order of Merit, the country’s third-highest honour.

Rise and Shine, the opening celebration which commences at 10 a.m. tomorrow, will be presided over by reggae aficionado, Ras Astor Black, and features Andrew Tosh, along with performances from several regional musicians. The following day at the Trelawny Multipurpose Stadium, Reggae Walk of Fame Limited will produce Reggae Walk of Fame: KIDS RULE, a partnership with The Ras Astor Black Interactive Music & Arts Learning Institute. Programmes highlighting the importance of education, teamwork, punctuality and discipline are set to be featured. Specially invited artistes will perform and the event will be repeated every day, with additional guest artistes.

All through the seven-day event, reggae ambassadors will be honoured at the Trelawny Multipurpose Stadium.

“I not only recognise the importance of our reggae ambassadors, but pay tribute to their amazing work that has contributed to Jamaica as we know it,” Black said.

Poetry Society celebrates Musgrave Medal

The Poetry Society of Jamaica is celebrating being awarded the prestigious Musgrave Medal for its contribution to literature.

The society is among past recipients including Professor Mervyn Morris, Edna Manley, Louise Bennett-Coverley, and fellow 2012 awardees Professor Edward Baugh and The Calabash International Literary Festival, all awarded for their contribution to Literature.

Founded in 1989, the society has established several literary support systems, among them its longstanding monthly Poetry Fellowships, hosted at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. The fellowships afford a commingling of young poets, new to the journey, with more established and acclaimed practitioners. Among its more unique features is the fellowship’s deeply entrenched practice of soliciting candid, immediate feedback from its panel and general audience, for all works shared at each staging. The Poetry Fellowship has been hosted on the last Tuesday of each month for the past 23 years.

The Musgrave Medal is an acknowledgement of the Poetry Society’s efforts thus far. “It is an encouraging endorsement for our labour of love over the past 23 years and will inspire our efforts as we embrace greater aspirations,” president Tommy Ricketts said. The society’s newest project, Verse Vs Verse, is an islandwide initiative being undertaken in partnership with the National Association of Teachers of English, the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) and the Ministry of Education. The objective of the project is to demystify literature for the thousands of Jamaican students who sit the CXC English and literature examinations each year.

The Poetry Society of Jamaica hosted its October 2012 fellowship on Tuesday, under the theme ‘Dead Poets Live!’, featuring the works of critically acclaimed poet Anthony McNeill and internationally celebrated Musgrave awardee Claude McKay.

US$24m lawsuit against MJ’s estate

After only recently being announced as Forbes’ top-earning dead musician, Michael Jackson’s estate is being sued by a music producer, claiming that he is owed for his involvement on the late singer’s posthumously released track This is It.

Michael Jonzun has filed a lawsuit against both Jackson’s estate and the track’s co-writer, Paul Anka. Jonzun claims he helped turn Paul and Jackson’s 1983 song I Never Heard into This is It and also that he owns a third of the latter, but has never been paid for his efforts.

Anka, who is both singer and songwriter, was reportedly dismissive, telling website TMZ.com he’d never even heard of Jonzun and his claims. Anka also said the track was originally recorded in 1983 and intended to be a duet between him and Jackson on the Walk a Fine Line album as I Never Heard, but the project fell through.

It was later reworked and premiered after Jackson’s death under the title This is It, accompanying a film of the same name which showed Jackson preparing for his live comeback, scheduled to start just days after his death in June 2009.

Tanto Metro and Devonte thrill Bogotá City

The dynamic duo Tanto Metro and Devonte, clad in black and white, gave an electrifying performance last month at the Royal Centre in Bogotá, Colombia. It was their first time in that city and they left patrons speaking a new dialect, ‘GotNewsforYouish’, a development on the title for a song from their album Musically Inclined.

The performance, which lasted for almost two hours to an auditorium bursting at the seams, was high energy, non-stop from their full repertoire, including Everyone Falls In Love, Burn and Are You Ready, Bubble, Anytime and Already Know from their upcoming album Request.

The duo’s performance was enhanced by two Spanish beauties, who mesmerised the crowd with their dance movements. Other performers at the concert included Barrington Levy and Gondwana from Chile.

Tanto Metro and Devonte agreed that the response was overwhelming and well appreciated, and look forward to future shows within the region. Tanto Metro joked “dem still a repair di place, we mash it up”, while for Devonte it was an unforgettable experience.

Chris Brown launches charity for young artistes

Turn Up The Music singer Chris Brown will launch his new charity, The Symphonic Love Foundation, which promotes using love and art to change the world, on Monday, November 5.

Brown recently rekindled his relationship with singer Rihanna, despite still being on probation for beating her in 2009, for which he was sentenced to six months’ community service.

A source reportedly told gossip website JustJared.com that the 23 year-old entertainer’s new organisation will establish and fund a variety of arts programmes for young people in Los Angeles and will also encourage them to get involved in everyday public service by educating them about respect and kindness.

The foundation will be launched at a mini festival which will include representatives from the singer’s favourite non-profit organisations such as HOLA (Heart of Los Angeles), Debbie Allen Dance Academy, Jenesse Center, Break the Cycle, Best Buddies, AIDS Project Los Angeles, and Creative Visions Foundation.

Earlier this week, the foundation asked Chris’ fans to sketch and create artwork inspired by his song Beautiful People, which will be featured on its website and unveiled at the launch.

Brown dumped model Karrueche Tran just last month and blamed his “friendship” with Rihanna for the split, but has been spotted hanging out with her several times recently while Rihanna is busy recording her new album, Unapologetic.